Death and Strawberry
by Raining Sky Guy
Summary: Aizen is gone. The Quincies are gone. Juha Bach is gone. All of Ichigo's enemies are but past memories and now he has to address a smaller but just as strong enemy: romance. Ichigo is oky with dating Inoue, but soon finds out that they don't really match. At all. (And why is he being drawn to a certain black-haired shrimp?) Ichiruki should've been canon. COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

I am a salty writer.

Created: 19/12/16

Death and Strawberry

by

Raining Sky Guy

* * *

Kurosaki Ichigo woke up from his deepest slumber until the date, dressed in a borrowed garb, in the Fourth compound; still half-asleep but there was some urgency in his wake. Like he was searching for someone.

Someone grasped his hands.

"It's alright, Kurosaki-kun."

Tired, Ichigo looked at her. He blinked until he recognized her as Inoue. She was looking at him with firm resolve, her lower lip jutting out. What is? What was she talking about? And why was she alone?

Well… someone was visiting him, he shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

(Still, Ichigo wondered, where was she?)

Next time he woke up, without the same urgency as before, he saw his human friends in a small group around his bed, relieved to see him wake up. Recollection came back to him little by little. The Quincies, the fight, Juha Bach. They had won. He had helped.

"Hey," he had said rubbing his eyes and managing a smile. They crowded closer, Ishida trailing a bit farther. They seemed to be fine, barely injured. "How have you been?"

"Better than you I would say." Tatsuki was the one to declare, arms on her hips scrutinizing him critically before a reluctant smile tugged at her and she swept her hand through his mess of a bed hair with sisterly affection. "Heard about how you saved us again, hero."

Ichigo immediately scowled. "Oi, don't start calling me that. I just did what was necessary." The teen grumbled, feeling the strain of his muscles as they remembered what had happened. He slanted a glance at the subdued Quincy at the back. "And I wasn't the only one to fight. How you holding up, Ishida?"

The kid started briefly, staring at him for a moment. "I am perfectly fine as you can see." He blushed briefly. "Inoue-san healed me to perfect health of course."

"Hehe, it was nothing! I healed you too, Kurosaki-kun, how do you feel?"

Ichigo blinked as the girl got her face in his personal space, but he was distracted. His muscles ached. Inoue's healing, or rather, rejection should have left him feeling renewed. He opened his mouth to say something, but then Ishida hastily cut in.

"Y-you should be the one asking her, Kurosaki. Are you a brute?"

Only after that did Ichigo's eyes stray to the pronounced bags under the healer's eyes, the dryness of her skin and the tired aura overall. He blinked, before offering the nervous girl as much of a reassuring smile he could muster. "My bad, how are you, Inoue? You don't look like you've slept much." In his mind he mused about how many people had she had to heal, and for how long. The thought made him cringe. Well, that and the blow on his head from Tatsuki.

"That is not how you talk to a lady, Ichigo!" She exclaimed like in the old times, making all of them relax if momentarily. Inoue was quick to jump in to try to defend Ichigo or something like that.

"T-Tatsuki-chan, it's alright, yes I've been called several times- ah, but only when it's absolutely necessary, the Shinigami of the Fourth treat me very kindly and-"

"Ichigo… this is all still very new to me but… well, get well soon, we miss you down there." Keigo mumbled quietly; probably unsettled by where exactly he was and everything that had been going on. Mizuiro stepped up then, from his side.

"You _are_ coming back with us, right?" He asked, direct to the point with his serene but stern voice. It made him nostalgic for some reason.

Ichigo briefly wondered how long it had been since he had spoken with them. But then he caught up to the actual meaning of the question. "What? Why wouldn't I?"

Silence then pervaded the small gathering, Keigo and Mizuiro looking at each other uneasily, until a fuming Tatsuki shouted. "Someone has some explaining to do, I'll find him-!"

"That won't be necessary. I believe I know why Kyoraku sought you out." Out of nowhere Urahara Kisuke popped up, startling everyone except for Ishida. He nodded at them as a belated greeting before fully entering the room.

"Urahara! Wait, Kyoraku?" Ichigo said, eyes narrowed wondering what was going on and fearing the worst given that Urahara was involved.

The former captain of the Twelfth drew level with them, shadowed gaze skirting over their expressions. He no longer sported the crude stiches from Benihime as he too had been treated by Inoue, but still he looked drained and a hand hovered over his face as if he had to stifle the urge to scratch.

"When Kyoraku, the man you spoke with, came to you, he was expecting the worst outcome." He began explaining to them with no further prompting, focusing on the Human teens before turning to the bedridden boy. "Ichigo you're as unpredictable as a cat's mood but every time you sought out to beat a stronger enemy, you would gain such a strength that quickly pushed you over your previous boundaries. What he was worried over was whether your new power up would render you a hazard for lesser beings- I'm sorry, for souls without as much reishi tolerance. That, fortunately does not seem to be a problem."

As Kisuke feared, he saw his pupil's face slowly turn to icy stone. "Why, thank you for your kindly concern. I suppose not informing me of such things is also some courtesy bullshit?"

"Although Kyouraku did act out of his own accord… I was prepared to do the same." Kisuke said mildly, enduring those hardened, weary eyes, on the border of betrayal. Kisuke bowed his head. "We weren't sure how things would hold out. We had no way of knowing in what state you would come out in… Your father knew and he would take care of your sisters, but I rather doubt he would tell your friends. In case you were unable to wake up for a long period of time, we wanted to at least have them warned."

"You could have explained before."

"It was hard. You have quite the tight agenda for a young man. Between saving the world and recovering from said odyssey…" Kisuke said in that same mild tone but Ichigo could swear there was a tremor of regret and he was talking a bit faster as if eager to explain himself. Which, probably wasn't off from the truth, given that the shopkeeper had arrived as soon as possible and began with no further prompting.

"Okay, okay, I get it, _shut yer trap._ " Ichigo said with a hint of a hoarse voice, as always forgiving the other without much thought– he'd never been one to hold a grudge and he wasn't planning on starting now. Even though no one seemed to mind it much and he gave no outward sign of any change, he still bemoaned silently. He was starting to pick up after his _hollow_ , for crying out loud!

But after that, there were no more plans behind his back, he finished reconciling with his friends, about what they had done during the war, how they felt passing over to another world and they finally left Ichigo to rest some more.

* * *

At first he was thankful because he was indeed tired, but soon enough Ichigo was already pacing his room in desperation while Chad and Inoue with Mizuiro and Keigo tagging along sometimes, went exploring Seireitei with either Yamada or Renji (Rukia was strangely occupied, they had told him). One day he couldn't take it anymore and he half-limped over to Mizuiro's temporal-resting-quarters and hauled both him and Keigo for an outing. Even in the state he was in he was able to elbow Keigo in the face for making some stupid remark.

When the rest of his friends were aware of this he was chewed out by several people. Even Inoue had approached him after _Nanao_ took time out of her kicking-my-captain-into-doing-his-job routine to scold him. Inoue saw her exit, a pout on her lips before she entered his room. She smiled nervously at his deadpan expression, even as she approached his bed. Ichigo flopped down on his bed.

"What. You're going to scold me too?" He said monotonously, though when there was a little silence he remembered she was a bit more delicate. He grudgingly sat up to look at her. She was biting her lip, but at least when he looked at her she shook her head softly. Good. He had heard the same things out of way too many people now.

"I just… I know it must be very boring for you right now, Kurosaki-kun, but it's just for a little while longer. But just try not to strain yourself before you are discharged, please?"

Ichigo huffed with a wry grin. "Yeah, alright."

* * *

Ichigo stared at the haggard figure that had just entered his room. Her hair was haywire and windswept all at once, rings under her glaring eyes and clothes looking like they had been hazardously put on. Ichigo blinked and the shrimp deflated slightly with relief. He blinked again and she was stalking forward.

"Ichigo what is it you think you're doing aren't you too injured to be gallivanting about like some fool you couldn't sit tight until Isane decided to discharge you no you've never been one to just sit down and _heal_ have you, you are an unbelievable fool!"

The barrage of uninterrupted words had Ichigo unable to do anything but gape at his friend, until he saw her turning red and amusement tugged at his lips. "Rukia," he interrupted her gently, standing up, shushing her protests while extending his arms to grasp her shoulders. " _Breathe."_

Rukia inhaled so abruptly her knees wavered and Ichigo was already tugging her to sit on the bed. Rukia took in several invigorating breaths before she glared at him again, grumbling softly about, "honestly, making me worry."

"Oi, I'm just a little injured, don't know why y'all scrambling like headless chickens when I-ouch!" Ichigo rubbed at his wounded nose, glaring at his friend.

"You just defeated the strongest man sort-of-alive and even with Inoue's healing you haven't fully recovered from the toll of such a fight." Rukia stated huffily, "why can't you just sit tight and heal like a proper patient?"

"I am _bored_ out of my mind, Rukia." Ichigo allowed himself the groan of frustration as he lied down on the bed, arms extended. "and everyone that visits is either asking how do I feel, or assuring me that I won't have to stay here all that long, over and over again.

"Ichigo. It's alright to take a break. There's no hurry." Rukia said patiently, smiling at him. "It's perhaps frustrating for you that everyone comes here asking the same questions, but given what we have all gone through, I think you have to forgive us."

This effectively had him bolting upright, a concerned frown on his face. "I didn't mean to…" Rukia's smile widened.

"It's alright, just understand where this is all coming from. And don't forget you are so much younger than all of us."

"Oi, with all the babysitting I've done, you can't pull that card on me," Ichigo scowled again.

"Oh, come on, who have you babysat?"

"Renji. Matsumoto. Ikkaku. Zaraki. Yachiru. Neliel. She's technically older than me. Oh yeah, what about Kyouraki-soutaicho. Like, honestly, you'd expect that the highest ranked Shinigami would not need to be looked after like some little kid."

Rukia decided to save her dignity and refused to answer. Ichigo still laughed at her and for that he got smacked on the top of his head. Then the fingers treaded his short hair softly as Rukia looked at him. "It's great to see you doing well. There's no hurry, Ichigo. It's finally over. You can rest. We are fine. And we'll throw a big party and Renji and everyone will probably want to get you drunk and some people will want to spar too, so you better heal enough to handle all that."

Ichigo hummed, not really sure when he had closed his eyes as that warm hand continued to go through his hair in a soothing motion. He relaxed at last.

There was peace.

Everything was alright.

* * *

Everything was alright and dandy and getting better. Ichigo had been finally discharged for good, and had been allowed back to Karakura.

As it turned out, war wasn't very good for education and he and his friends had to cram all of their courses in less than a week in time to present their final exams of the year.

Ichigo dropped two places, but did alright all things considered. He had no idea how Ishida and Inoue both kept the top spots. Chad also didn't budge from his average.

Mizuiro and Keigo dropped too, and Ichigo felt a smidge sorry for them –it had all been so sudden for them, the shock surely affected them more than they let on. Even Tatsuki had seen better days despite her already suspecting something supernatural going on.

* * *

A new term began and with it came new worries, like beginning to consider a career choice. Seeking out a part-time job, making hardcore study sessions with his friends so at least they'd return to their rightful places in the rankings, and generally just returning to a normal-ish student life.

Normal-ish because Ichigo's life had never been anything remotely like that– and he still had to contend with several ghosts a week (less than before since his friends were spiritually aware, and he _could_ perform soul burials now) and every now and then with a pesky Shinigami sent on a patrol.

But everything was… calm. For once. Ichigo was just getting used to this sense of normalcy, taking back his Human life from where he had had it "on-hold", when an anomaly popped into his life.

An anomaly otherwise known as romance.

"Kurosaki-kun, I really like you. Please go out with me."

He had to admire her guts if anything. Were his first thoughts as he stared at the blushing Inoue. He had learnt about her feelings a while ago (as well as the whole world) and he was pretty sure he had discouraged any sort of relationship. He needed to save the world, there was no such time for that.

And even so, his mind called him a liar because he'd have a bond even stronger than a "relationship". But it surely wasn't romantic. It shouldn't be. Renji had told him in secret he was feeling hopeful with Rukia. He shouldn't interfere.

But if it was not Rukia, Ichigo didn't really picture himself with anyone else. He looked down at fidgety brown eyes, her blush spreading to her ears.

The most bizarre thought then entered his mind.

Can I love her?

She was already head over heels, embarrassingly enough. That was already half of the job.

"Well, sure."

* * *

Ichigo is surprised by how physical she got. It didn't go beyond hand holding and hugging at first, but while Ichigo thought it was cute and he would be able to feel something like this, he started getting restless. When they started kissing, there were days in which he would hide away from the world, muting his reiatsu and just changing the planes of existence.

He generally went to Hueco Mundo.

Less people to tattle.

This started becoming a routine they grew used to.

Inoue didn't pry and Ichigo never gave her any explanation when he went missing for the weekends or when he told her he wasn't in the mood for a date. In turn, when they _did_ go out, he would do anything the girl wanted (within common sense).

Something which he still hadn't figured out how to properly fix was Inoue's rather unique cooking. Which had given him from mild nausea to food poisoning.

.

"You should be honest with her," Kisuke told him again as he handed the sick teen some painkillers after he finished puking his stomach's contents.

"I don't want to hear that coming from you," Ichigo jabbed him weakly before huffing. "Oh, believe me. I've tried. But I don't seem to get my message across. Also she's sure to cry. I can't deal with crying people. My sisters notwithstanding."

"So you'd rather continue throwing up? At least get me her recipes, I'm sure we could make use of them for the Kidou corps."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Smartass."

* * *

Ichigo was not blind. As Yoruichi had discovered so early into his teenage hood, he could appreciate a, er, well-endowed female body. He could see perks of dating Inoue, he knew why his friends could be jealous of him.

But.

To Ichigo that wasn't what was most important.

It's not to say he found her personality boring, or dull (she was anything but). Or that the conversations he had with her were senseless or forgettable (sometimes).

It was just that…

There was something missing.

For Ichigo she was just a friend.

He kept forgetting they were going out, even being surprised when she initiated contact. And Ichigo had no illusions he'd ever be a competent boyfriend but not even thinking of going out with his _girlfriend_ until his _friends_ pointed it out to him and even then waiting until the girl herself asked for it…

Well wasn't that just plain wrong?

But she didn't seem to mind. And at least he made it up for her by being extra attentive. Even if he ended so tired he tended to flee immediately after.

One thing they did together was hunt hollows. But by together he meant Chad, Ishida, Kon – and thanks to Kisuke, Keigo, Mizuiro and Tatsuki too with special equipment.

* * *

Ichigo rubbed at his eyes tiredly as he stared out of his bedroom window, watching the summer rain fall. He felt numb. Nothing was changing. Nothing was new. Nothing was taxing.

He had unread messages from Ikumi. Even though he had gotten much more serious than last time, he still sometimes slacked with his work, but he made up for it. He had bi-weekly fights with hollows, which lasted as long as it took Ichigo to unsheathe his sword, even visiting the ever irritating Kisuke had stopped yielding much of interest as the man had become occupied with his own pet project.

And the rain kept falling.

* * *

Ichigo really had no need to call forth even half of his actual power. But he had come to learn that while his Quincy side could just rest and let him carry one, his hollow kept calling him. With every swing of his sword, the thirst grew. With every beat of his heart, something like nostalgia threatened to fall on him.

He was restless.

It had been a long while since he last released his zanpakuto and Zangetsu just wanted a stretch Ichigo was more than happy to give. Since it was something casual, he did not bother going into Kisuke's basement. His reiatsu spiked with excitement as he exited his house deciding to do it at the riverbank.

For nostalgia sake, he let his hollow manifest in horns and markings on his face instead of the usual mask. It felt nice, now that he knew it belonged to him. It was not exactly easy, he could feel that taking this form consumed his energy even if not his reiatsu but he didn't mind, it was like using muscles he was not used to stretching. Zangetsu assured him it was because he had done it cold, if he did it in battle or after a little practice, it wouldn't feel like that. Soon he discovered that an invisible weight was being lifted off his shoulders.

Inoue did not seem to think that way.

With a screech of fright that scared Ichigo, he came face to face with the fear stricken woman.

"Kuro…saki-kun?" She managed to mumble, frantic and quivering.

" **Hey, Inoue, it's alright it's me."** He had said in his weird double-toned voice even as his enthusiasm waned and a little fear started- no, was rekindled by the same person.

Inoue laughed nervously, trying to shake it off. "A-ah, I didn't know I thought-" Even as her attack spirit hovered around them, an obvious threat.

Ichigo hated feeling weak or letting himself-

He couldn't help but feel as if he'd been slapped, He felt tears wanting to sprout and he didn't decide anything.

He just left.

.

Kisuke had never been one to ask many questions. For that, Ichigo was grateful, he was thinking as he lay apathetically on the underground training hall.

As if to give himself a kick in the balls, Ichigo had arrived at his doorstep with his mask still on, not caring if he scared someone else but to his surprise, Kisuke had just been mildly surprised.

And that was because he hadn't actually expected him to knock.

"Your reiatsu indicated you'd barge right in… Ichigo-kun? Are you quite alright?" The shopkeeper had said to answer the silent question on his once-student. All good humor fled him upon the distress he felt on the hollowed-teen. "Could it be you can't change back?" He asked half-jokingly.

Ichigo had then taken his hollow form off, a bit embarrassed but sort of relieved by Urahara's reaction. He felt further embarrassed as he tried to figure out how to explain to the shopkeeper he needed to hide away for a while but the other beat him to it.

"Well, why don't you head downstairs? You wanted to train, I presume? I'll stay up, I need to finish my tea, but if you want a sparring partner come look for me." He said with a knowing glint in his silver eyes. Ichigo looked away, not sure if to be relieved or concerned the ease the other could read him with.

"Ah, right. Thanks."

That was how Ichigo found himself staring at the fake sky with a scowl. He couldn't believe himself. Why was he hiding in the first place?

Why had it affected him so much?

Why was he so cowardly?

And…

Why was she so frightened by him?

* * *

He had spent there long enough that Urahara had decided to tell his friends.

Not his human friends, for some reason.

Ichigo found himself face to face with a scowling shrimp.

"Eh, uh, Rukia…hello…" He managed, looking away from her as he scuttled backwards and tried to correct his slouch. They stared at each other in silence while Ichigo pitifully tried to come up with something to say.

"What is it do you think you're doing?" Were her first words, surprisingly loud in the thick silence. Ichigo stared at her with wide eyes as she stalked closer. "Stop moping around like a kid!" She added with a swift kick to his butt, sending him skywards.

"You brutish woman! We haven't seen each other in months and this is the first thing you decide to do?" Ichigo almost shouted, the words bursting out of his mouth, forgetting all awkwardness in one go. He stared at her indignantly, hands rubbing his behind.

Rukia crossed her arms over her chest sternly. After a moment, her lips curved in a smile. "That's better."

"What?"

Rukia plopped down in front of him, legs and arms crossed. "Looking upset doesn't suit you. You look like an old man that just lost a soccer match."

Ichigo stared at her unimpressed. "Do you even know what soccer is?"

Amethyst eyes bored into his. She tucked her knees under her as she leaned closer to press a slender and warm finger in between his eyebrows. "Last time we saw each other you were looking better. Tired, obviously, but happy. Now your scowl is back. What is bothering you?"

Ichigo gaped at her for a moment, before he could catch himself. He looked away. "Is that why you're here?"

"No. There was a report of an arrancar coming down here."

"Rea-?" Is as far as he got before his face got smashed in by a sandaled foot. He yowled indignantly.

"No, you idiot! Urahara-san told me you were looking down and hadn't come out of here in five hours! Of course I would worry! What happened? Is it your family? Your friends?... Did you fight with Inoue?" At that Ichigo's shoulders tensed but he did not deny or admit to anything. Rukia did not push, instead she leaned back down, ready to listen as her friend worked out some words.

"Don't worry about it, really. It's nothing. I, uh… It's not really…It's been tranquil, y'know?" Ichigo said with a little smile. He looked down at his hands. "By the way, Rukia… what do you think about my hollow?"

"What do you mean 'what do I think'? Well, I'm glad you finally got it under control..." Rukia paused, lost in thought, completely missing the way Ichigo's breath hitched and for some reason his chest constrained.

. "No, well, that was at first. But to be honest, after that last fight with Juha Bach, you seemed like you had gained control of your _self._ It's like, um, oh! It's like learning a zanpakuto's name. You know your sword has it, and it will grant you strength, but you don't know enough to earn it. Don't know enough to control it."

"And suddenly…" Rukia smiled, closing her mouth and letting Ichigo continue. "Suddenly it all makes sense. It's not about control, it's about understanding. And it becomes yet another of your strengths."

"Exactly. So, I'm guessing this is related to you feeling down. What happened, really?"

Ichigo looked away. "Sorry for having worried you guys, it's really nothing… Urahara just jumped the gun."

Rukia stared at him, stern and worried. "How's your life going?"

"Eh, good I guess. You? Has the Gotei 13 settled yet?"

"No, not quite." Rukia shook her head softly, looking meditative, somber. "We did… we did lose a great number of members so… Kyouraku-soutaicho is still new at his job and trying to get things in order."

"And what about you?"

Rukia blinked at him.

"Made you captain yet?"

Rukia opened her mouth, closed it. Opened it again and went slightly red. Ichigo smiled in amusement, before he started counting off his fingers. "Come on, shrimpy, you have a head on your shoulders, people respect you, you got bankai and got just as much experience as the other captains. What's stopping you?"

"I-I'm not prepared for the responsibility!"

Ichigo's smile widened. So they had asked her already. He hid his expression when the flustered woman looked at him suspiciously. Ichigo decided to continue teasing because it simply was fun.

"Maybe there's a height minimum? Now even Toushiro is taller than you."

"Stop it you ruffian! That holds no weight on the decision and Nii-sama- "

"What about Byakuya? Is he babying you again?"

"He seems to be proud but… I'm worried I will only disappoint everyone."

"Rukia…" Ichigo started with concern before he smacked her atop the head unimpressed, "don't give me that bull. Except for the stupid coat and the title, you're already practically a cap. The power, the mental fortitude and the forbidden paperwork. You did Ukitake's when you were under him, you did half of Kaien's _on top of that_ afterwards and you and Renji managed two captain-less divisions. Really, what are you so worried about?"

"When you put it like that, you make me sound like such a fool…" The ice-wielder said with a wry smile, hand going through her black hair.

"Think about my wise words." Ichigo said before he paused. "By the way what does Renji think?"

"Hmm?" Rukia was still ruminating his words before she sighed tiredly. "Well… he seems to have taken it as a personal challenge… again."

"Meaning?"

Rukia sighed. "We had finally reconnected, we were finally hanging out like normal friends, with no regard to title or position but nowadays he spends his time training. He even avoids me some times."

"What an idiot."

"Well, that's just how he is. He seems to think he's unworthy of being with me… you know, I was suddenly adopted into a Noble House, so I guess he still fears…"

"There are far better ways of dealing with that. Like, for one, you could train together."

"That would be nice," Rukia mumbled to herself, trying and failing to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, forgetting once more it now reached her cheeks. Ichigo huffed.

"Why did you cut it?" Seeing how Rukia did not understand, he pointed, "your hair. Why did you cut it?"

Rukia twirled the awry strand between her fingers. "I felt like it. I wanted to change myself… a little, I guess."

"Well, it looks nice on you. And you do look refreshed."

"Refreshed? What is that supposed to mean?" She asked with a soft chuckle. Ichigo decided to indulge her just because.

"Yeah, you did change, the haircut is just a reinforcement. It changed your overall image just a tiny bit, but I guess it allows others to notice." They smiled at each other, confidently. They fell into a soft silence, before Ichigo's scowl returned.

"Well, I guess… I should probably go out already." He said, a little faintly, making Rukia worry again. The carrot top rolled his shoulder blades, already on his feet and ready to go back to his routine. Before Rukia could try to say anything else, he turned his neck to shoot her a rare and brief, toothy grin. "You coming?"

Rukia huffed with a smile dancing on her lips as she hurried after him.

* * *

Ichigo felt awkward and exposed and he hated it.

Orihime fidgeted in place, trying to smile. "I'm sorry…. I may have overreacted this time." She said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Ichigo steeled himself to his best ability, managing a smile.

"Ah, it's alright, don't worry about it." He mumbled, noticing but doing nothing when the girl's face dimmed. When she opened her mouth to try and say something, he turned around. "Now that that's solved… I, er, will see you tomorrow."

And he ran away.

* * *

She didn't bring it up and neither did he. But Ichigo could not forget, could not forget her fearful eyes, her defensive pose. He had never done her wrong, so why…?

Ichigo then remembered she had been kidnapped and held hostage by hollows.

Why was he so insensitive? She had already accepted she had overreacted, had already made it clear that it was not his fault and here he was, still hung over that.

(And still, a traitorous part of his mind whispered, how was it that she outstretched a hand towards the one who had kidnapped her, had almost killed their friends, in his final moments, yet refuses to even glance at Ichigo?)

* * *

And then things went back to how they were. Or, a cheap imitation of that. It kept going on, the day ending with a progressively tired Ichigo.

Until one day, Ichigo had had enough of feeling like a strung violin chord and he called Inoue. He sat her down, ever so mindful, and careful and making sure she was perfectly comfortable. He smiled at her nervously, before he leaned back, shoulders squared and delivered with finality.

"Let's end this."

He saw resignation, heartbreak, pain and even a glimmer of anger in those eyes. But when all Ichigo could think of when she started crying was 'how troublesome', he knew he had done the right thing. For both of them.

She got angry.

And to his annoyance, Ishida too, in turn.

(He had been vaguely aware of the Quincy's feelings, never fully acknowledged, but it had come off as no surprise in the end. He wondered if they would eventually end together.)

And Ichigo…

Ichigo hadn't felt freer.

* * *

"You look better," Rukia commented, leaning on the school balcony as Ichigo finished unpacking his meal. He asked her what was up, what she was talking about. "Just, you look better."

"I don't really get it, but thanks, I guess." Ichigo said as he rummaged through his backpack. "Here, brought you a juice box. I hope you remember how to open one." finally making Rukia turn to look at him with a little affronted scowl.

"Of course I know how to do such a measly thing!"

"Oh, really? Let's see you do it."

After struggling with it for about five minutes and after beating up Ichigo after he couldn't stop silently laughing at her, she sat down next to him, looking over the edge. "I heard about your breakup." She said. "I'm sorry to hear about that."

"Oh, well, yeah. That happened."

"May I say something that is completely selfish?"

"Sure?"

"I'm glad."

"What?"

Rukia smiled guiltily. "I'm glad you broke up. It had started to look like… it was doing you no good. For both of you, I'd say."

Ichigo stared forward for such a long while, Rukia regretted her words, sure he had been offended. But then he released a sigh and said, "I think you're right."

"I'm sorry."

"No don't be. It was bound to happen." Ichigo then rubbed the top of his head irritably. "Ugh, forget about it. How about you tell me why is a captain allowed to roam the Human world? Don't you have like captain-y things to do?"

Rukia then gave him a bratty grin. "Yeah, I'm skiving! On paper it's a perimeter check and maintaining a strong relationship with allies –meaning saying hi to you and your friends."

"You have been corrupted-ow!" Ichigo was already expecting the blow but still it came, hitting the top of his head rather softly. He opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, but decided against it. He looked down at his lap for a moment, "thank you."

"We're not forgetting you, Ichigo. What happened last time, it was a series of bad timing and mistakes on our part. But it's not happening again. You are a very important person for us." Rukia immediately pinpointed where he was coming from and what he had been fearing ever since he was discharged. "Our visits may not be very frequent, and we can't visit you all together, more so because we need to reestablish the Gotei 13, but we will try our best. Oh! Actually, I'm able to be here because Renji is subbing for me, so it's like a vacation from paperwork!"

"Quite the captain you make." Ichigo teased, but intercepted her fist and inquired. "By the way, you haven't been slacking off with your training right? Feeling up for a spar?"

"Don't expect Kuchiki-taicho to go easy on you!" Rukia replied rather haughtily and Ichigo replied by using her head as support for getting up.

"Let's go, shrimp."

* * *

Kisuke had been endearingly amused at seeing the power duo again, bickering heatedly with each other over whether bankai was allowed which descended into petty arguments before getting down to business about half an hour afterwards,

Kuchiki had been awfully diplomatic to him, which felt nice every once in a while, especially since it made him know he was actually welcome in Soul Society again (it was one thing to be told that in the midst of a war, and another one being treated so familiarly by a captain even if said captain was only just recently appointed).

"Captaincy surely suits you, Kuchiki-san, no, rather, Kuchiki-taicho."

Rukia shifted in her seat awkwardly. "Thank you, Urahara-san. I can only expect to be able to honor the position."

Ichigo looked at her, a rare proud smile on his face. When they finished with the last pleasantries, Ichigo bade Urahara goodbye and the both of them returned to his home.

.

Halfway to it, Rukia slowed down to a stop, Ichigo only gave two steps more before he turned, confused for a split second. "Rukia…?"

She cast a worried glance at the darkening sky. "I'd love to stay and dine with your family again but…"

"You need to go."

Rukia smiled a bit contritely. "Disadvantages of being a captain I'm afraid."

"Oh, don't worry. It's okay. Yuzu would probably have given you my portion of dinner, so. Better for me." Ichigo joked, his words coming a bit haltingly. He rubbed the back of his head, unsure of what else to say. Rukia saved him from the problem by stepping into his space, pulling his hands down.

"Ichigo!" She exclaimed, startling him. "I'll be gone shortly, to make sure my squad didn't go under while Renji tended to it, but I will come back, also you better visit us as well! You are still our number one substitute Shinigami! So this is not goodbye! I won't let you ever say goodbye to me again!" She exclaimed her fierce violet eyes reflecting the setting sun. Ichigo was left speechless, which only managed to change her stern expression into utter fondness. "Until next time, Ichigo."

Without thinking, Ichigo pulled her by their joined hands and he engulfed her in a hug just as fierce as Rukia's words had been. The woman was momentarily surprised but she returned the gesture with the same intensity. It lasted probably three heartbeats and they were both smiling when they pulled apart. "My time to visit then. I'll see when I'm free."

"You better." Rukia said before drawing out Sode no Shirayuki to open the gates to Soul Society. She waved childishly as she was engulfed by the closing doors.

And she was gone.

Ichigo rubbed the kinks out of his neck, trying not to think of the lingering warmth and with his shoulders set, he headed home.

He felt lighter.

Continuará

* * *

I will be forever salty Ichiruki did not become canon. Really.

So, this is how I imagine things would have gone if circumstances had gone the direction Kubo had hinted the whole manga except for the last few chapters. I don't envision Ichigo, the adrenaline-junkie just settling down because someone has a crush on him. I would rant, but I am sleep deprived and about to sleep and have shit ton of things to do tmr.

Oh! This story is prolly going to be 2 or 3 chapters long at most.


	2. Chapter 2

Writing this made me happy.

Death and Strawberry

CH 2

by

Raining Sky Guy

* * *

"Got yourself another girlfriend?"

Ichigo snapped to attention by Ikumi's words, realizing he was at her workshop going over a schedule for the football team he would be coaching while the actual coach was out sick. He looked back to see her smiling at him with that motherly affection he still wasn't used to. "Um, what?"

"Am I wrong?" She asked, faintly surprised and seeing Ichigo simply blink at her blankly she expanded. "Well, I mean. It has been a long while since I last heard you humming while working."

"I don't see how one thing correlates to the other." Ichigo replied blandly, trying to focus back on his task. He skimmed over it briefly before finally mumbling in a gruff tone. "And no, I'm taking a break on all this romance-y stuff."

Ikumi nodded and was about to return to sorting out requests when she noticed Ichigo stopping, placing a hand over his throat.

"Was I really humming?" He mumbled to himself, face confused.

Ikumi suppressed a laugh.

* * *

Ichigo started ticking off his responsibilities. Karin was going on a summer camp and had Kisuke's number on speed-dial if anything happened. He had Kisuke's promise that he'd always be available for whatever his sisters needed. He had Tessai's promise that the shopkeeper would keep his word. He had nagged Ikumi for vacations he was going to take regardless of whether she approved or not ("but you had just started being consistent with your work!"). School still wouldn't begin in a while. Yuzu was staying over at a friend's while they practiced for a baking contest.

Even hollows could be dealt with by his friends.

Ichigo was perfectly capable of taking some short vacations.

* * *

He shucked his body to the side, without barely a glance as the temporal gateway to Soul Society surged to life. Kisuke rolled his eyes as he stepped in to retrieve the body before anything happened to it.

"See you in a while." Ichigo mumbled, as the Hell Butterfly finally passed through, ready to guide him. He stopped and scowled at him. "You better take good care of my sisters."

Kisuke took it in stride. "Of course, you have my word." He said all solemn and stuff. Ichigo nodded curtly before he started moving jerkily in place. "Is there something else, Kurosaki-san?"

"I-eh-just trying to… think… maybe I'm missing something… Karin said… she would call me when she got there. Maybe I should wait until she does. Do we get reception over there?"

Kisuke smiled. "I must remind you that we specifically gave your sisters special communicators that _could_ reach Soul Society for exactly this purpose."

"Oh, right."

He stayed on the border, still uncertain.

"Kurosaki-kun." Kisuke called him again. "You should go already. We will take care of everything here. And will tell you anything that comes up, so just go already."

Ichigo blinked at him owlishly, gave him an uncertain yet excited smile making Kisuke remember how young he was, before he finally took that last step and disappeared into the dark."

Kisuke rolled his eyes again, "I think you're a little overprotective."

* * *

He had forgotten the whole Soul Society Hero thing going on until he was accosted on all sides by people he didn't even recognize. He did his best to politely extricate himself but was relieved from that effort by the appearance of Hitsugaya Toushiro –and his ever trustworthy icy glare,

"Back to your places, people! Stop bothering our guest." He barked at the balking Shinigami who reluctantly left Ichigo in fear of being frozen to death. "Kurosaki." He said curtly as all greeting, once the fans had been dealt with.

"Toushiro. Hey." Ichigo cracked a grin seeing that the other man couldn't be bothered to do more than simply roll his eyes at this point. "How come you're here?"

"Because the Captain Commander coming here would cause an upheaval and would probably result in his death via vice-captain Nanao. And since Matsumoto is being punished, I was relatively free to greet you." Hitsugaya summarized quickly, letting a small smile, as he leaned back on the ball of his feet. "Nice seeing you again, Hero."

"Oh don't call me that, please." Ichigo grunted, but smiled in return anyway. They were alone again and neither of them had any rush so they began walking back towards Seireitei. "I'm surprised by this sudden warm welcome coming from you. Is everything alright."

"Save your commentary for later." Hitsugaya replied unruffled. There was a small silence while Toushiro stared at the sliding clouds overhead. Ichigo was alright with silence, had never been very talkative himself and it was a nice change, but Toushiro ended up sighing in defeat moments later. "While I am not against walking there, I suppose we should better hurry before someone bursts a vein waiting for us."

Ichigo turned to stare at him, confused. "Waiting for us?"

"You didn't think you'd free yourself of greeting all of the captains and vice captains, right? I believe, Kyouraku-soutaicho was doing his best to finish the last of his urgent papers to summon an emergency meeting."

This immediately caught the young shinigami's attention, making him scowl on reflex. "What for? Is there something going on? Need my help?"

"Truly a hero." Toushiro remarked in a dry tone. Ichigo was too lazy to go up to actually flick his forehead, but at least he could relax again– if Toushiro was acting like this then it was not likely that anything serious had happened.

"Shut up, mini-Byakuya."

Toushiro puffed up indignantly, his hair even seeming to bristle along with him as he shot Ichigo his usual death glare. "I'm just a couple centimeters shorter than you. Stop with the small comments already."

"Sorry, y'know. Habit." Ichigo replied with a small smirk. "Though I hadn't even meant it like that. It was all you this time."

"Just come with me, in silence."

* * *

Ichigo had been sort of expecting it, but still was surprised as he was accosted again, this time by familiar and long-missed people. All the captains, vice-captains and upper ranks were there, looking truly happy that Ichigo had come by.

"how… you doing?" "Long time…" "What have you been doing?" "Feel like starting a war soon? I need to get rid of my paperwork?" They all said simultaneously, in a nearly incomprehensible cacophony, Kyouraku's stage whisper resulted in a comic duo where Nanao stepped in to slap him with a fad of papers which had them all, Ichigo included, laughing.

Someone bumped his shoulder and he bumped arms with Renji, same wild grin on his face. "Long time no see, Ichigo!"

"Renji! It's been a while! Feel up for a spar later?"

Renji snickered, delighted. "Certainly! Gonna wipe your ass on the ground!"

"As if! I'd like to see you try!"

And then they both noticed Rukia making her way over to them, the redhead immediately trying figuring out a way to leave. Since Rukia was just a couple steps out of earshot, Ichigo leaned in and just said. "We need to talk about this later." As a warning to the confused other who and left to mingle with his peers. Rukia looked at him briefly before she was beaming at Ichigo.

"You came." She said and even though both wanted to hug each other, they felt it would be better if they didn't. Not with so many people in such a formal ambient.

"I promised you. How have you been?" Ichigo said, his features soft and gentle as he focused on nothing else.

"Still getting used to being a captain. How about you? How are Karin and Yuzu? You were working, right? Is it alright for you to leave? How long are you going to be here anyway?"

Amused, Ichigo placed both his hands on her slender shoulders. "Rukia," he said, smiling. "One question at the time. Or at least let me answer a few."

Rukia closed her mouth almost comically. But seeing as Ichigo did nothing but chuckle, she huffed, waving her fists up and down in a rather cute fashion. "Hurry up! Go on! Stop laughing like a fool and answer!"

Ichigo complied easily enough, answering every question of hers, as they came- Ichigo was happy to do so, as they relocated to a more discreet place so they didn't have to raise their voices so much. But at one point, Ichigo does stop her barrage of questions,

"Come on! Enough already Rukia!" He said in a rather light tone, "Your turn now. Tell me about you. What have you been up to? How're your lieutenants?"

Like that they kept on talking non-stop, blind to their surroundings, focused only on the now and on each other as the day gave way to night and the party descended into quiet private conversations just like the one they had been having all day long.

They were an endearing sight for the older Shinigami present. With the ever-scowling boy laughing and smiling for a change and the shy and still a little reticent Rukia making grand gestures, words coming nonstop from her lips, her face beaming.

And something Kyouraku was sure no one else noticed (except perhaps, for Byakuya) was the hunched figure of a certain redhead, looking forlornly at the chatting two, as if he had realized something and there was nothing he could do.

And if what Nanao had confided him was true, Renji had been given a chance and had lost it. Whatever happened, he had no way of intervening. No say in it.

Well, men needed to stand together and while he would not intervene in anything he could at least offer the ever-trustworthy alcohol to a friend.

Renji looked relieved as he downed the alcohol and in no time both of them were laughing together with Matsumoto and Ikakku and all the heavy drinkers of Soul Society. It wasn't a cure, but anything else would have to come from Renji himself.

In the meantime, he let Matsumoto pour them another round.

* * *

Ichigo had a great time all things considered.

His spar with Renji was postponed for the following day as the other man had a killer hangover. And since Ichigo had been expecting that he had let himself oversleep for once. For some reason where he was going to spend the night became a competition among the old and respectable captains and vice captains of the Gotei 13, which besides being ridiculous made no sense since Ichigo had _family_ here, with a place to stay and anyway, he knew both Kuukaku and Ganju were still a little awkward around Shinigami and vice versa so they had abstained from joining.

So,

After saying goodbye to an amused Rukia he absconded from his crazy friends.

* * *

Kuukaku had been so close to actually throwing him a new alcoholic party but he had been thankfully saved by Ganju inputting that Ichigo would puke all over their house if she insisted (which, Ichigo thought, rather indignant, would not happen even if she did). She had also been so much closer to separating his nose from the rest of his face, as she reprimanded him for taking so long to visit them.

"You could have visited as well!" Ichigo replied hotly, holding his bruised nose with both hands. "Isn't there some priority to the younger members?"

"Oh don't be such a whiny brat. Besides it's not for lack of trying." Kuukaku said with her cheeks inflated like a little child. But when Ichigo simply looked away she sighed. "Kuchiki was the first to cross over to the Human World through the reinstated gates, Ichigo. We were uncommunicated for a while. You know the whole, only noble families get their own secret passageway and all that. Also thanks to that I have pretty juicy gossip about the Vizards for you. You know they crashed here while they got sorted out in Divisions and stuff?" She offered as a weak attempt at a consolation gift. Ganju then entered the room holding a veritable mountain of food in his hands, with Shirogane and Kurogane trailing behind him with similar amounts of food.

"Stop bothering him, sis. Let him relax and have some food and explain properly."

So it appeared to be true. The Shiba's had indeed tried to cross over when it seemed apparent that Ichigo was not coming anytime soon, but by then the official gates had been closed to give them maintenance as they had become too fragile as a result of the war. And also all the higher-ups had been close to impossible to track down to ask for clearance and they hadn't even been allowed through the temporal gate that led directly to Kisuke's shoten.

Ichigo wasn't all that offended in the first place so he found it easy to forgive them. More so that despite being family they had been acquaintances just months ago. Ichigo didn't even know they existed before he turned fifteen.

Once that was cleared, the night crawled in with a full stomach and enough stories to tell to fill a book. Ichigo had always had friends, and his little sisters, but he'd never really experienced this late-night banter. It was… nice.

"So?" Kuukaku asked in a business-like voice at one point, her flushed cheeks directly contradicting her adamant claims of soberness. "Where's the Kuchiki girl?"

"Rukia? She's back at her barracks, obviously. Why?" Ichigo replied, arching an eyebrow in her direction. Why would she be asking him that?

"Hmm, no reason. No reason at all." Kuukaku said cryptically sighing overly dramatic into her ever present sake cup. "Why are the Shiba males so stupid!"

"Hey, sis! Don't diss us! We're not stupid at all, right Ichigo?" A drunk Ganju slurred out, brimming with liquid courage to somewhat contradict his even drunker sister. Ichigo was unimpressed.

"Well I'm not. Not so sure about you."

"How dare you?" Ganju gasped in all of his drunk indignation. Ichigo rolled his eyes and Kuukaku laughed at them.

* * *

Ichigo loved taking long walks across the streets of Soul Society, from Rukongai to Seireitei he simply walked. More often than not, Rukia would arrive by his side, waving another patrol mission impishly before proceeding to ramble on about her day. Ichigo listened attentively, curious as how she was adapting to her new captain role and always in the mood to hear about his other friends in the Gotei 13.

After that, Rukia would demand answers from him. Where he had been, what had he seen. Ichigo was sure he wasn't telling her anything new, seeing as he was just relaxing and rarely did anything interesting but still, amethyst eyes watched him with rapt attention.

Renji kept postponing their rematch, arguing about paperwork, and a hangover and similar stuff. Ichigo knew he was busy, but he started noticing something was off. He had also been waiting for their spar so he could beat some sense into him, but even that was set aside as Renji continued acting odd. Especially whenever Rukia was involved. He wondered if they were having a fight or something. He considered asking Rukia, but really…

It was none of his business.

He lazed a lot, ate, chatted and slept when he wasn't strolling aimlessly. But he was up to a fight whenever he was asked. He began to spar daily with most of the captains, Rukia included, the Vizards and everyone Ichigo had ever known. It was taxing but it was always fun.

But it inevitably resulted in more than one visit to the Fourth's barracks.

"Ichigo-san," Isane said with a polite smile as she watched him getting mended by one of her subordinates. "It is as always nice to see you but… don't you suppose you could stop showing up so battered up?"

"Hmm? Sorry for giving you more work.

"Yes, we could do without that." The once shy woman replied without missing a beat. Ichigo's smile wavered in place. Had she always been so bluntly honest? "But also, it's better for your health, wouldn't you say, Rukia-taicho?"

The petite woman sitting by Ichigo's side looked up from the reports she had brought along to keep up with her work as she kept her friend company. "What are we talking about?"

"That Ichigo should refrain from fighting so much, getting all beat up on a daily basis isn't exactly the healthy recovery we wished for him."

"Oh, right." Rukia said, turning to look at him. "Stop losing so often, you fool."

"Who said I was losing, you midget?" Ichigo said, his eyebrow ticking as he pushed her face down. The woman cried out in indignation and before they could descend into a petty catfight, they were both stopped in their tracks by a strong hit courtesy of Isane.

"You will not fight inside my barracks! Especially since Ichigo has just been healed! Now, get out of here!"

(Rukia blinked owlishly at a similarly bewildered Ichigo. "Did we just get kicked out?"

"I think we did."

"It was probably your fault."

"Oh really?" Ichigo taunted, hand going to mess her hair but the woman skillfully ducked under his arm and landing her own hit on the top of his head. The only reason they didn't continue with their scuffle was the sudden ominous reiatsu signal from inside the Barracks, belonging to one Isane.)

* * *

"Congrats, by the way." Ichigo said out of the blue as he watched Rukia put her captain haori back on after some light sparring. Neither of them was particularly tired, just a little winded and were lazing around in the training grounds.

Rukia made sure her hair was neat again before turning to him. "What for?"

Ichigo shrugged, trying not to sound embarrassed because, "I don't think I ever congratulated you properly for your promotion. So. Yeah."

"Oh, that. It's okay. Thank you." The Thirteenth captain said, fluffing out her hair again, smiling at the ground before daring a glance up. She met the steady eyes of Ichigo set on her, a rare half-smile on him, looking proud. She looked back down, a little self-conscious but really happy. "It was somewhat of difficult time for everyone when I was promoted so the ceremony wasn't that big." She then looked back up at him, remembering something. "That reminds me, you are getting promoted too, aren't you? I'll do my best to attend your high school graduation."

Ichigo looked at her weirdly. "That's hardly comparable, I'm just ending another school cycle and maybe entering another. Nothing new."

"It is still a ceremony for all your achievements so far, and keeping up with your peers despite all the setbacks you had to endure. I think it's worthy of praise."

Ichigo looked away, rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly flustered. "You're exaggerating."

Rukia just laughed.

* * *

"Excuse me, Rukia-taicho. I was wondering if you had seen…" Shinji trailed off as he caught sight of the figure sprawled on Rukia's couch while the captain worked on her desk. He stared, amused as the teenager finally noticed somebody else in the room and looked away from the book he held in his hands to stare at him blandly. "Never mind, I seem to have found the lazy bum." He smirked when all the other did at the teasing was get more comfortable and give him the finger. "Feisty as always, I see. Anyway, brat, I have a mission ova' at Hueco Mundo thought you might want to come with…" The blond captain trailed off as he looked from Ichigo to Rukia alternatively. "Well," he rectified. "You seem to be busy, though. My bad."

Cue twin oblivious stares and almost simultaneous, "I'm not busy." "He's not busy."

Shinji rolled his eyes. "Whateva' you say. I'm leaving in the afternoon, come find me if you want to."

* * *

"You know…" Ichigo started as he watched the snowflakes of Sode no Shirayuki flutter to the wind as Rukia executed some complex stances while he watched on. "Back when… back when I lost my powers, after the Aizen thing… It's sort of silly, but it doesn't often snow in Karakura and, during those months, it snowed once. And I thought it was you." Ichigo rubbed the back of his head and falling silent. He laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, haha, it's such a silly thing, really. Wow, I didn't expect it to be so embarrassing! You can forget about it."

But Rukia hadn't moved from her last sword thrust, back towards Ichigo and silent as the grave.

"Uh, Rukia? Is everything alright? Sorry, was what I said too weird?

Rukia had meant to tell him, at some point that she _had_ visited him and even gave him a snowfall as a gift, but she had been so sure nobody would be able to link both events that having Ichigo point it out made her… made her face turn an indelicate shade of red.

She was suddenly so embarrassed she couldn't bear to face him.

"Are you alright, Rukia? Ooooooi" The half-shinigami boy got to his feet, drawing closer to her, butting his face way too close to hers.

"S-shut u-up, you fool" Rukia stammered, awkwardly smiling as Ichigo towered over her. "Stop saying such- such ridiculous things!"

"Wow, you're hella red. You sure you're fine?" Ichigo decided to ignore her weird behavior as he pressed a hand over her forehead to feel her temperature. The woman squawked indignantly before hastily backtracking to regain her personal space.

Rukia coughed into her closed fist in an attempt to regain her composure and immediately pouting at seeing the amused tilt on Ichigo's mouth. She crossed her arms, uncrossed them, raised her zanpakuto –unsealing it in the same movement. She drew in all of her courage.

Staring right into Ichigo's eyes, with crazy intensity, barely even blinking or showing any expression at all, she commandeered the skies and snow started to fall around them– soft snow flakes, that melted upon touching Ichigo's flaming face.

Rukia smirked.

* * *

Training, eating, and hearing all the extravagant daily lives of his otherworldly friends was something Ichigo really had needed. His life had become far too dull for some reason. He was sure he was just exaggerating but in those days he was gone he was … happy.

It was not to say he begrudged his family and friends back on Earth. He'd never held it against them and he wouldn't start now. Especially since,

"Kurosaki-san? Yes, hello, you sisters have arrived. We are waiting for you, whenever you are ready."

He had his sisters to worry about.

"Thanks Urahara-san, please tell them I'll be there soon, just let me say good bye over here."

"Oh, there's no rush, they told me to say this to you. You can take your time. They'll be staying here with me until you are back."

"So Goat-Face isn't back yet, huh? Nah, thanks but I won't take long. I think."

"Alright then, we'll see you shortly."

"Yeah."

Now that communication was reopened for both Worlds, and he had already gotten together with his friends, saying goodbye this time was just a tad easier. Knowing they'd be the next to visit was also a happy prospective.

"Happy to be going back?" Rukia stopped doing her paperwork, having finished her last urgent messages to address her favorite person that had just entered the room.

Ichigo, who had just waltzed in, trying to check out her office since he had seen her busy, turned his head, surprise on his face. He hummed, before he gave his back to her, inspecting her bookcase. "Well, I guess. I mean, I miss my sisters, and I _do_ have a life to get back to. Just…"

Rukia stared at him, a bit worried. "Just?"

Ichigo balanced on his feet without saying anything.

"Ichigo?"

"It's nothing! Never mind!"

"Is that so?" She replied with a smile, focusing on stacking her papers so she could return to them at a later hour. "I guess you wouldn't miss us of course. You surely have much more important things to do…" She trailed off, surprised as a red-faced Ichigo immediately _spun around_ to point an accusing finger at her.

" _Of course not you dingus!"_ He exclaimed, unable to refrain himself. "Of course I'm going to miss you! I hate that we have to live in different places, and I know that seeing you will be much harder since you have so many things to do and I would hit you if you ever slacked off your position!"

Rukia blinked in surprise, not actually expecting the rant she got. Ichigo finally caught himself, turned an even darker shade of red, mumbling darkly under his breath. He turned his scowl from his feet to her as she broke down laughing.

She stood up, making Ichigo straighten to attention and she approached her friend. She interloped her hands behind her back as she balanced on the balls of her feet. "I'm glad to hear that. I'll miss you too."

She smiled.

Ichigo stared.

He looked down, a smile dancing on his lips. "Yeah…"

* * *

And sooner than Ichigo would ever confess to wanting, he had to leave.

Once more, Rukia stopped him before they separated. "I'll visit." She promised him her fierce eyes locking into his. Ichigo's features softened.

"I'll visit as well."

With that fervent promise burning on their lips, the two parted ways.

* * *

He knew he needed to do this, but he hadn't been expecting Inoue to show up at his doorstep the same day he returned, asking him if they could talk.

Already antsy, the boy followed her to the riverside where they stood in a tense and awkward silence for what felt like forever.

Ichigo cleared his throat loudly and when Inoue looked up at him, he grimaced. "Hey." He tried.

The girl immediately frowned, hands fisted and head lowered.

Ichigo lowered his gaze as well. "I'm sorry." He said. "I was never a good boyfriend to you, was I? I'm sorry about that."

Silence.

"It's okay, Kurosaki-kun. I forgive you." She said with a teary smile. "I'm sorry too, if I forced you into anything."

"No, you did nothing of the sort-!" Ichigo immediately refuted her. Even if it was just a bit of a lie.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun. Thank you for those wonderful memories you gave me."

Ichigo looked up at her, surprised. The girl smiled at him. He felt a small grin pulling his lips up. "Yeah. Thanks to you too, for putting up with me."

"Friends?" The girl asked, extending her hand for a handshake. Amused, Ichigo gave her his own hands in a manner much more comfortable for him.

"Friends." He said, feeling relieved as their hands bounced up and down as Inoue shook them like a little kid.

* * *

"So? How do I look?" Rukia said in a conversational tone, straightening her summer dress as she stood in front of the Kurosaki's household in a gigai. She looked up mischievously at the dumbstruck man that had answered the door. Rukia rocked back on the ball of her feet as she patiently waited for Ichigo's brain to restart.

"Rukia? What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you, of course." Rukia smiled. "I promised you, didn't I?"

Ichigo blinked, chuckling softly to himself. "Rukia, it's been four days."

Rukia blinked, raising a hand to cover her mouth, suddenly looking surprised. "Oh, was it too soon? I must apologize for-!"  
Ichigo basically launched himself from the door, hands gesturing wildly. "No! That's not what-! I'm happy to see you, don't get me wrong!" But soon enough he knew he had been played again as violet eyes stared at him endearingly.

"I'm happy to see you too." The woman said, letting a smile pull at her lips. She laughed softly when Ichigo went slightly red for some reason, before she interlocked arms with him, pulling him outside. She handled his weight as he lost his balance, tripping over himself to keep pace with the bouncy strides the Shinigami was giving. She pointed her free hand towards the sky. "Let us go!" She exclaimed with so much cheer that all Ichigo could do was bemusedly let himself get manhandled to wherever she wanted to go.

* * *

They went to the arcade, where he taught the woman how to use the controllers and laughed himself hysterical when Rukia got overly excited and almost fell when she physically dodged the attacking zombies.

He was of course, bullied into getting her ice-cream and upon her complete lack of gaming skills he was forced to earn enough coupons by himself to get her the bunny keychain she had obsessed over as soon as she caught sight of the prize.

"Rukia, seriously. I got enough tickets for something better, are you sure you want that ugly shit?" Ichigo squinted dubiously at the showcased keychain with the awful drawing of an attempted rabbit.

Rukia huffed at him, "you clearly can't appreciate my good taste."

"I clearly don't get it." Ichigo replied before dumping his mountain of tickets on the counter. "Whatever, she wants that, I'm taking it."

"Oh? Here on a date?" The vendor said with a gentle smile as he handed the woman her prize. He was surprised when they both chuckled at the same time.

"Nah," Ichigo said, "we're just friends." He said while sharing a look with his friend. The man behind the counter laughed quietly to himself.

"My bad, please enjoy your time here." He said as farewell as he watched the two of them went to see more games while they fought over the artistic value of the pseudo rabbit, their banter light, and which ended in them both bursting out in laughter and with the man messing up her hair softly.

Ah, the vendor thought, young love.

* * *

They talked a lot. Even if they had spent the last three days together, they never truly ran out of things to say.

As the sun began to set, it found the two of them sitting at the riverbank, watching their surroundings being bathed in orange light.

Rukia had continued to tell him about her new life, her new responsibilities as well as new commodities but Ichigo noticed something was off.

"Are you happy?" He asked her, scrutinizing her face as if to find a lie.

"Of course I am, what are you on about?"

"Then. Are you satisfied?"

"…" Rukia looked down at her hands briefly. "I'm just not sure what to do." she said. "I mean; my life is doing pretty good. I'm a captain, I have earned my brother's and the Kuchiki's respect. I have lieutenants to my beck and call. But I… I still want more. Isn't that just arrogant?"

Ichigo hadn't stopped staring at her. "While I can't say you're not arrogant–"for his efforts, he was elbowed in the gut. "–I rather doubt that wanting to be happy can be called that. What is it that you want, anyway?"

Rukia fell silent, seriousness taking over her face as she hugged her knees, her feet wiggling under her. She looked down at her lap. "I have never…" she began, voice unexpectedly soft. "I was always doing my best to reach my goals, whether that was to survive in the streets, to enter the Academy, to meet the Kuchiki's expectations… And thanks to that I've never really given it much thought but…" She looked at him briefly, embarrassed. "It such a silly thing, but for a moment I saw Renji and I thought he could be the man I would grow old with. Who I could share my life, who I could… love. But…I can't really do that with someone that keeps pushing me away."

Ichigo felt weird, as if he was jealous or something. Or maybe it was guilt for not having talked some sense into the hothead. But his friend needed him, so he said, "Have you tried talking to him?"

Rukia smiled wryly. "It's hard talking to someone who puts you in a pedestal at the turn of a leaf." She brushed her hair back from her face. "And the more I kept trying I realized that I just wanted my friend back. I really love him, but not as a romantic partner. We'd spent all our time fighting anyway." She frowned. "Not like we don't do it now."

Ichigo ignored the relief blooming in his chest. "Are you sure, though? I mean, Renji has been pinning for you for so long. Maybe if you give him some time to process things… I don't know, you can work something out?"

"How long should I have to wait? Until he's captain?" Rukia asked, a little forcefully, hugging her legs closer. Ichigo was silent. "And I'd say that the feelings Renji has for me are that of admiration, rather than love. If he did he- I-…ugh, I don't think that's it. Also I don't like him in that way."

"Are you-?" Ichigo began, but was promptly shut up by another elbow to his gut.

"Enough about me!" Rukia ordered, her pretty cheeks flushed. "Now, what about you? Since you broke up with Inoue you haven't sough anyone else, right? Don't you want to? Now that your life is more or less normal?"

"Ugh, why am I having this conversation with you?" Ichigo made a face, but then gave the question some thought.

"Well," he began, ordering his ideas. "For one, I'm a boy. I don't run to the horizon searching for love. I have never… You know my life. It has been a chaotic mess ever since- well, since forever to be honest. It never really came up, never gave it any thought. Like, people expected me and Tatsuki to date because we had been friends for so long but neither of us even thought about that possibility until our friends pointed it out." Ichigo laughed softly, missing the way Rukia stared as she realized how his words seemed like an echo of hers.

"You did give it some thought, though. As soon as the war ended you began dating Inoue. So it's not like dating was never on your mind."

Ichigo looked at her briefly. "Here's a secret. She asked me out." He pursed his lips together. "She said that it was fine if I didn't like her back. It could happen later, while we were dating. At least. She hoped I did."

Ichigo sighed aggravated. "I really like her as a friend. She's nice and quirky and resourceful but… all I got out of that relationship is that I don't think I want one. I don't like being constrained. And the short period of time we dated we began speaking less and less. It was hard talking to someone who wanted a very specific thing out of me that I did not have."

"And what would you like?" Rukia asked him. "What do you imagine your girlfriend to be like?"

"Well, I don't know. Someone who is not clingy? Don't know what you're asking for."

"Well, for example, for me I would like someone who was strong. Who I could spar with, talk about everything with. A man who I could depend on and who would depend on me as well. I'm not a damsel in distress despite my gender." They both huffed, thinking how ridiculous that notion was. "I don't really need for him to hold my hand all the time. Sometimes we'll be busy and we should understand it and work around it and trust… trust the other person to come back for you every time." She fell silent for a long while.

"Someone who could change my world."

"Someone who could make the rain stop." Ichigo speaks without realizing, and for a moment neither of them were sure who had spoken all of those words.

They lock eyes.

Ichigo stared at her in awe –the words ringing in his ears, creating a dream, a desire of having someone by his side.

Could it be she was what he had been looking for?

Rukia stared at him, her face a reflection of what he was feeling.

Faces so close their breaths began to mingle, they stared at each other in a too long silence. They cracked down laughing together.

Their hands interloped together.

They had finally found each other.

End

* * *

I love me some Ichiruki. Should I make a chapter 3? With just fluff?

I'm generally neutral towards other shippings, but for some reason I'm exceedingly salty about Ichihime, so I'm sorry if I go a little overboard sometimes. Although I'll never attack anyone for liking it.

But Ichigo and Rukia are just perfect for each other *cries in Spanish*.

Would love to know what you think? Also, do you think they are IC?

Leave a review to show your support to Ichiruki lmao!


	3. Epilogue

Not dead!

Death and Strawberry

by

Raining Sky Guy

(Epilogue)

* * *

Ichigo yawned as he woke up. He massaged his sore neck, as he realized that while he was indeed in his room and on his bed, he had fallen asleep while sitting up, propped against the cold wall. He was confused about that weird decision for about two seconds but all other thought disappeared from his mind as he caught sight of Rukia sprawled indelicately on the other side of the bed. Her head laying on his pillow, her mess of a hair all across it and over her face and her feet tucked under her as if she had been sitting like that.

Ichigo took one look at her and snorted a short laugh. He smothered it immediately but she wasn't a warrior for nothing and she was instantly staring his way, eyes still hazy.

"Good morning, Rukia." He told her, unable to stop the smirk on his face as her face went progressively red.

She jerked into a sitting position, immediately extending her –no doubt sore legs while she preened her hair back into a decent shape. Once she was more composed, she finally took in her surroundings. "Did I sleep here?"

"Apparently. I just woke up too." Ichigo said as he moved his shoulders to ease the ache. "I wonder when we fell asleep."

"I'm sorry for taking up your bed." Rukia said as she stretched as well. She wiggled her feet, a small smile on her face as sensation returned to them.

"Don't sweat it." Ichigo yawned into his fist and rubbed at his eyes. "It's not like a midget takes up much space anyway-ugh!"

Rukia scowled at him after retrieving her punch, "Do not call me that!"

Ichigo rubbed at his side more out of a token protest than actual pain. Then, as his brain finished booting up, his good humor began fading as a quiet fear nestled itself in his belly.

"Rukia about… I guess it's yesterday now. Are… are we cool?"

Rukia cocked her head in his direction and blinked repeatedly before she understood. "Oh!" She said, her face brightening up– unconsciously easing Ichigo as well. She smiled sweetly, her cheeks a little pink. "I think I like the way things are headed. I'm surprised why… how this didn't happen before."

"Things were a bit crazy. Hard to think about r-romance and… stuff."

Rukia suppressed a teasing smile. She made her way to sit shoulder to shoulder with the tense teen. She rested her head on his upper arm. "But now we actually have time to think about it. And more importantly…." She opened her eyes when she felt his gaze and she stared into his eyes.

"I have you." He mumbled, voice steady and unwavering–just like his eyes. Rukia smiled and broke his concentration by bopping him on the nose.

"We have each other." She corrected him softly. She smiled a little embarrassed when he didn't stop staring, now with a smile on his lips. "What is it?"

"You're gorgeous." Ichigo said with such simple sincerity that while it was embarrassing to hear, Rukia couldn't do anything but accept it. "You've always been. I don't know why I never said this to you before."

"I wouldn't have pegged you to be such a romantic." Rukia mumbled, smiling to her lap. "But unsurprisingly, I like it."

"I'm glad you do; I still can't believe I actually said that." Ichigo replied, sounding winded as he pressed a hand to his hot face.

"Ichigo, you are so pretty when you get flustered."

"Wha-? Pretty?"

"Yes," she smiled endearingly. "You are a very beautiful boy."

"I'm a man, I'm not supposed to be either of those."

Rukia arched her eyebrow. "According to whom? Beauty is not confined to gender, now is it? Although if you're not used to it then…" She stared at him critically, a hand under her chin making him squirm. "Would you rather I use the term, handsome? Because you are also that."

"Maybe we should stop already."

In a teasing mood, Rukia rose on her knees to poke at his nose again. "Why? Look at yourself. The line of your nose…" she traced it, feeling it burning under her fingers. "The curve of your jaw. Objectively speaking you have a perfect facial structure. Your hair color is unique and matches with your eyes." She was so close, Ichigo could feel her breath on his skin. "And," she dared to look down at his lips and gently traced them. "I confess I have always been intrigued by your…" they drew closer to each other without even thinking, with Rukia's hands going to cup his cheeks and Ichigo raising his own to her waist and-

 _SLAM_

The (locked) door to his bedroom burst open as Isshin flew in, chanting, "FOOD IS READY MY DEAR RUKIA, I HAVE COME TO RESCUE YOU FROM-!"

He stopped taking in the sight of Rukia on the floor, her butt in the air apparently having fallen off and his son looking red in the face (for a second it looked from embarrassment before his rage-filled eyes locked with his) got up from the bed and jump-kicked him out the _window._

Isshin flipped and landed on his feet, indignant that his son had dared do that, but he couldn't wail any melodrama as his son popped his head out of the window.

"RESPECT MY GODDMAN PRIVACY, GOATFACE!" He bellowed before slamming the window down. Isshin was considerate enough to wait for him to disappear before snickering.

"Goddman." He repeated to himself under his breath, laughing softly. He looked down at the entrance door where his daughters were staring at him.

"You are an idiot." "Dad, why did you interrupt!" They both said at basically the same time, with Karin rolling her eyes before going back inside and Yuzu just pouted in place.

"Stop bothering big brother when he has friends over!" She declared firmly. "Especially if it's Rukia-san." And with that said, she closed the door.

Isshin blinked.

 _Click._

"Wait, Yuzu? Yuzu I think you locked the door by accident? Hey! Let me in! My beautiful daughters! I'm sorry! MASAKI, LISTEN-!"

* * *

Back in his room, Ichigo breathed in, out and turned around.

Sitting primly on his bed, Rukia had her head bowed as she straightened out her uniform.

Her ears were red.

Ichigo felt himself blushing in return, but before he had time to think of an excuse, the woman lifted her head and despite being a funny shade of red, she was smirking at him. "Shall we continue?"

"Continue what?" Ichigo managed to choke out, hating how feeble his voice sounded. The smirk gave way to absolute endearment as she picked over to him, gently grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the window.

Ichigo was so cute.

The shorter Shinigami stood on her tip toes as she took his face in her palms. Staring at him with so much love, Ichigo didn't have the time or presence to feel embarrassed. He just stared back, mesmerized and surprised at being so… lucky.

They stayed like that, inches away from each other before Ichigo's eyes darted to her plush lips and without thinking he pulled her closer while he also bent down, closing that last gap.

Their lips met.

And nothing had been more perfect.


End file.
